John w



(No Mod m J. w HARRELL.

GAB. COUPLING.

No. 352,240. Patented Nov. 9, 1886.

v v I 5 v Wlnesow 25' B 1721/ 7 W W 0 ,4 a %,J%7 L b UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. HARRELL, OF WINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,240, dated November 9 1886. Application filed May 12, 1886. Serial No. 201,939. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. HARRELL, a citizen of the United States, residing atWinston,in the county of Forsyth and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car- Couplers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to car-couplers, and

has for its object to produce an automatic,

coupler of simplified construction which can be-readily uncoupled without going between the cars, in which the link will move in agroove within the draw-head, so as to lift the drop-pin and insure the latter dropping into the loop of the link, and in which the drop- -pin will hang in a vertical position and not be jarred or moved out of the link by move ment of the car; and to the accomplishment of such ends the invention consists in the construction and the combination of parts here inafter particularly described, and then sought to be specifically defined by the claim.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical section through the draw-head, drop-pin, and link, showing the link and drop-pin'in the position they occupy when the cars are coupled. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the drawhead, showing the link in section and the drop-pin in position when the link is being inserted. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line :0 x of Fig. 1, the link being withdrawn. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line y y of Fig. 1. V

In the drawings, the letter A designates the draw-head, the forward end of which is: recessed' or hollowed for the coupling-link and the suspensionof the pivoted drop-pin. The mouth of the recess is flaring, as shown at a, for receiving and directing the end of the link. The side walls are formed with the grooves b, which receive the sides of the'link and guide the .same to the rear of the recess. These grooves permit a sufficient side and vertical play of the link B to prevent it from binding against the draw-head and to permit it to yield to the vibration of the car, and yet they pre-' Vent the link from moving to such an extent head than are the grooves b, so as to fit-close to the drop-pin 'D, to take any lateral strain thrown on it, and at the same time permit it to swing in the recess, The lower front wall, d, of the recess inclines sharply rearwardly and downwardly, as shown, so as to afford a deep and square bearing for the lower fiont portion of the drop-pin, thereby receiving the principal part of the strain or pull and taking it from off the pin E, from which the drop-pin is suspended. The rear upper and lower walls, 6 and f, of the recess incline forwardly, so that the draw-head will be weakened as little as possible, and at the same time they form the inclined upper and lower walls of the groove G, which is at the rear of the recess in which the link and drop-pin. lie. This groove, of which the inclined walls 6 and f form a part and diverge from its rear wall, as shown, permits the link to rise up the wall 6 or move down the wallf, so that the link will be raised or lowered to accommodate the height of the draw-head of the other car to be coupled. It is also apparent that the deep space formed by the inclined walls will permit a crooked or bent link to be received without binding or interfering'with the coupling of the cars.

The drop-pin D is formed with an inclined face, 9, tapering from the top downwardly, and

. is suspended or pivoted within the draw-head by the pin or bolt E which passes through the drop-pin eccentrically or near its front. This, together with the form of the drop-pin, has a tendency to throw the pin forward against the lower front wall, 9, so that the pin will always stand in a perpendicular or upright position and prevent the liability of accidental uncoupling, unless the car is turned upside down. It

will thus be seen that the drop-pin not only drops by gravity, but stands initsupright position, so as to securely hold the coupling-link in place.

The drop-pin is provided with an upright arm, F, which extends above the top of the draw-head, and is designed to be struck by a lever in the hands of an operator,.so as to move IOO' the drop-pin into the position shown in Fig. l inclined walls a f, diverging from the rear of 2, to uncouple the cars withoutgoing between groove G, and constituting the upper'and them. lower walls thereof, in combination with the The device is very simple in construction, drop-pin D, formed with the upwardly-extendnot easy to get out of order, and is easily aping arm F and pivoted to the draw-head, plied and operated and positive and invarisubstantially as described. able in its working, and can be used with In testimony whereoflaffix mysignaturein either a straight or bent link. presence of two witnesses.

Having described my invention and set JOHN V. HARRELL. forth its merits, what I claim is- The draw-head recessed to receive a link and drop-pin, and formed with the forwardly- \Vitnesses:

WILLIAM FARRO\V, EUGENE E. GRAY. 

